1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support apparatus for securing a wing plow relative to a vehicle used for a wing plow application such as a truck, a loader or a grader.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a support apparatus for securing a material moving wing plow relative to a vehicle used for a wing plow application such as a truck, a loader or a grader.
2. Background Information
Wing plows are often used for removing snow from the hard shoulder of a highway. They are also used for smoothing limestone or other materials during a roadmaking or road repairing operation. The wing plow extends laterally from the side of a vehicle and includes a brace or braces for supporting the outboard end of the wing plow.
Various support arrangements have been proposed for supporting the inboard end of the wing plow. Such support arrangements usually include means for raising or lowering the wing plow because when the wing plow is not being used, the wing plow must be in a raised disposition when the truck or other vehicle is moving so that the wing plow is not in contact with the ground.
Many wing plow support arrangements employ pairs of parallel arms extending laterally outwards from the front nearside of a vehicle. The arrangement is such that in operation, the wing plow is permitted to rise and fall as it moves over the material being moved and with the bottom working edge of the wing plow remaining substantially parallel to the surface of the material.
However, with the aforementioned prior art wing plow support arrangements, there is a strong tendency for the working edge of the wing plow nearest to the vehicle to sink or dive into the material being moved. When this happens and the inboard end of the wing plow dives, the outboard end of the wing plow violently flies upwards and often causes damage to the side of the vehicle.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned problem by providing a trailing link mechanism such that the inboard end and/or the outboard end of the wing plow is supported by a support arm which in turn is supported by trailing links rather than the prior art laterally extending links.
Consequently, by the provision of the trailing links according to the present invention, the inventors have found that in actual trials, the wing plow moves remarkably smoothly over various materials being moved and that such trailing links avoid the potentially dangerous problem caused by diving of the wing plow at the inboard end thereof.
Therefore, it is a primary feature of the present invention to provide a support apparatus for securing a material moving wing plow relative to a vehicle that overcomes the problems associated with prior art wing plow supports.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a support apparatus for securing a material moving wing plow relative to a vehicle which avoids diving of the wing plow into material in the vicinity of the support apparatus.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art by a consideration of the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention contained herein.